The guests from the royal capital finally arrived.
Everyone in Cecil City—from the officials of the government affairs hall to every civilian in the city—has made full preparations.
As early as half a month ago, the news that the Duke of the North and the Virgin Princess would visit the Cecil Territory at the same time was published in the newspapers and spread all over the South. This is a big deal.
Ordinary people may not be able to figure out the political significance or interest entanglements behind this, but at least they can recognize the legal justice of the Principality and the legitimacy of the Cecil surname in this land—although Gawain is not very clear about it. I care, but people in this era are still used to believing this.
So this has become a big event, and according to the standard of a big event, it has been prepared for half a month. On this increasingly cold winter day, a grand welcome ceremony is waiting for guests from afar in Cecil City.
A team of seven magic vehicles was driving on the North-South Highway—this was the first section of modern road built on the "cross axis" carefully built by Gao Wen and centered on Kant City—the flat and open concrete road made the new magic vehicles The vehicle drove more smoothly, and the open winter fields on both sides soothed the mood of everyone in the car. Grand Duchess Victoria was sitting in the second car, and she quietly looked at the wide open road through the crystal window on the door. end of the road.
The road surface was paved with some kind of man-made material, much like the "petrified mud" made by the alchemists in the north, but it must be cheaper, otherwise the Cecilians would not use it to pave the road.
There are neatly arranged magic spar lamps on both sides of the road, which shows that Cecil's avenue is also accessible at night, but the street lamps in the wilderness are far away from the city... How did the Cecil people charge these magic spar lamps? Is it related to the legendary magic net
Almost 80% of the entire road from Rock Fortress to Cecil City is this kind of open road with uniform specifications. Only a few areas are old gravel roads or stone roads, and those old roads are also Apparently under construction - a sign that the ambitious founding hero intended to link his entire principality with such roads.
The Duchess thought of the "Avenue of the Cross" (Road of the Kingdom) built by Ansu before the civil unrest in the Brumaire, running through the east, west, north, south, and north of the Holy Spirit Plain. , but other facts have proved that such a transportation system that connects the whole territory and has a unified standard can play a surprisingly large role in the development of the kingdom.
As long as the ruler can maintain the centralization of power, the unimpeded road will only help the development of the kingdom. However, the authority of the second dynasty has plummeted, and the road of the kingdom has been cut up and down by the feudal lords everywhere. The southern border... Cecil has risen, and no one can resist the authority of the Cecil family. Their "Principal Avenue" quickly spread across the wilderness...
If the authority of the royal family can be restored, the first priority should be to reorganize the Kingdom Avenue, even if it uses coercive means, it must end the behavior of the lords cutting the roads—the Duchess looked at the south, but what she thought about was the Holy Spirit Plain.
"We're almost there." The female knight Margarita said softly, interrupting the duchess' thoughts.
She raised her head and saw an unfinished city wall stretching across the wilderness in front of her. The road pointed straight to the outpost in front of the city wall, and in the few gaps in the city wall, she could see large areas of houses and buildings. building.
"Is that Cecil City?" She looked into the distance, "It is indeed very large..."
"No, that's just the new city on the north bank—and it's the unfinished part," Margarita shook her head lightly, "We have to pass through this area and cross the mechanical bridge to reach the river bank of Cecil City square."
A hint of doubt flashed in Victoria's eyes, but she didn't ask anything—she felt that she had asked enough questions along the way, and no matter what she saw next, she had better use her own eyes to judge.
The convoy passed the outpost and drove into the new city on the north shore of Cecil. As soon as it entered the city, Victoria saw the huge banners hanging on both sides of the road:
Welcome to Cecil.
She was amused by the novelty of the welcome, and soon the novelty gave way to surprise.
Huge banners are fixed on the three-story buildings on both sides of the road, spanning the entire street, and connected by many magic spar lamps wrapped in colorful cloth, extending along the road, and the neat buildings are like guards. Lined up along the roadside, and in the open space between those buildings and the road, countless crowds have gathered—in this cold winter day, thousands of healthy and vigorous people in warm winter clothes gathered in the Both sides of the road!
When she set off from the royal capital, Victoria never thought that she would see such a welcoming scene—even when she saw the majestic and majestic rock fortress, and the vibrant Carroll City and Kant City, she also I never thought I would see such a welcome scene.
This is winter! !
However, there are more and more people on the side of the road. The magic guide team drove into the city, and the leading vehicle blew its horn—it was a loud whistle made by some kind of air bag and copper pipe device—the horn When the sound sounded, the people gathered by the roadside cheered loudly, and they didn't know whether they were cheering for the guests or the cars.
At the same time as the car whistle sounded, there were rapid and orderly hoofbeats from the path on both sides, and several teams of cavalry with bright armor appeared from both sides of the road. They were wearing uniform white armor and painted with The burqa with Cecil's emblem, holding a flag in his hand, quickly approached both sides of the convoy, and trotted forward with the convoy that had already slowed down.
Victoria looked at the scene on the road in surprise, but her almost instinctive restraint and etiquette made her respond most appropriately—she opened the car window according to the method Margarita taught, and nodded slightly to the knights and citizens outside the window .
The convoy approached the riverside block, and people who had already prepared appeared on the buildings on both sides of the road. Flower petals sprinkled from high altitude, sprinkled on the convoy like winter snowflakes, and sprinkled on the cavalry guarding the convoy. At the end, Victoria has seen the mechanical bridge that is gradually lowering—
Is that a bridge made of steel
She clearly saw the huge gear and lever structure running under the bridge. Some kind of powerful mechanical device pushed the bridge body down gradually and brought the two bridge decks together tightly. Slowing down, it happened to be driving on the bridge when the bridge mechanism was closed—the cavalry on both sides of the convoy was also moving forward at a constant speed, and there was not even the slightest confusion in the pace of each horse.
How long have these soldiers been training? How many soldiers of this level does Cecil have
The Duchess felt the mechanical vibrations from the magic vehicle under her body, and watched the city on the other side of the river, driven by magic power, getting closer. The loud sound released by a kind of amplification magic, but the music is not like the court style music she has heard in any welcoming ceremony. Loud beat, but more majestic and powerful.
Margarita's voice came from the side: "This is the 'March of the Phalanx', I hope you like this impassioned tune."
Is this the preference of the founding hero? Is this reflecting the spirit of martial arts
Victoria nodded as reservedly as possible, expressing her admiration and satisfaction appropriately. At this moment, the convoy had already driven off the mechanical bridge. In front of the convoy, there were welcome slogans and a large crowd gathered.
Victoria was used to these crowds of townsfolk gathering on winter days.
She kept an almost non-existent smile, showing the most decent appearance to the people outside the car window—then she suddenly saw some people waiting by the side of the road, pointing at herself with strange things that should be magical devices, with the expression on their faces His expression suddenly stiffened.
However, she forcibly stopped her instinctive impulse to cast spells, because she noticed that there were knights and soldiers wearing Cecil armor standing beside those people—she guessed that those magic devices should also be part of the welcome ceremony, and in an instant After adjusting his expression, he continued to deal with everything with an indifferent expression with a slight sense of alienation.
In the next second, accompanied by a series of loud explosions, one after another light blue air masses suddenly rushed into the sky from the block in front, and burst into large expanses of brilliant fireworks in the sky.
The entourage from the royal capital in the convoy raised their heads one after another, opening the car window in surprise. Even Victoria couldn't help showing a look of surprise for a while.
But she quickly returned to her usual self.
That should be the fireworks released by Cecil's mages to stir up the atmosphere—Victoria thought—this kind of fireworks is not uncommon for the nobles, and at the banquets of high-class people, the fireworks display of mages has always been a must. Indispensable item, she shouldn't make a fuss about it.
Although the fireworks released by Cecil's mage are indeed a bit different from other places-how did they make the fireball blow up so much? And how many mages did they organize to create such a large-scale fireworks
"What a grand welcome ceremony—I almost forgot it was cold winter," the Duchess praised sincerely, "I think I felt the enthusiasm and sincerity of Duke Gawain Cecil, this welcome ceremony must be Expensive."
Beside her, the female knight Margarita smiled and nodded: "Important guests should have a grand welcome."
"It took a lot of budget to welcome those two," Hetty said in a distressed voice while standing beside Gawain in the newly decorated riverside square, "it's almost enough for a new rune foundry... "
"Important customers should have a grand welcome," Gao Wen smiled and glanced at Hetty who was distressed about the budget, then turned his head and looked at Rebecca who was standing beside him, "The fireworks are well designed."
Today's Rebecca finally put on the clothes of a decent noble lady. The heir of Cecil wore a light blue court dress, and tried hard to maintain a quiet and steady appearance next to her ancestors, but when she heard Gao After Wen's words, she still couldn't help muttering: "Actually, I still want to shoot a few fireballs by myself—howitzers are definitely not as big as my fireballs..."
Gao Wen sighed: "We want to welcome guests, not kill them."
"I threw it into the sky..."
"That's what you said before you blew up the yard wall last time."
"Wow-"
Hetty had to cough softly to remind the grandparents beside her: "Grandfather, they are here."
The convoy arrived at the square.
Victoria and Veronica witnessed the prosperity of Cecil along the way, saw the cheering crowd, and saw the extremely grand fireworks. They and their entourage crossed the mechanical bridge over the White Water River and passed through the wide and neat riverside avenue , escorted by the cavalry and countless flowers, this team from Saint-Sunil finally arrived in front of Gawain Cecil.
I have seen what I should see, and I must have felt what I should feel.
The military band on the square once again played the impressive march of the phalanx. Flower petals—a by-product of the daily teaching of the Druids and Alchemy Department of the General Academy—flyed over the square, and the magic vehicles stopped steadily. In the center of the square, Victoria and Veronica stepped out of the car under the escort and support of the heroic knights.
"It's an impressive journey," said the ruler of the northern border, Victoria Wilde, bowing in front of Gawain as a junior meeting an elder, and then raised her skirt to salute according to the rules of meeting nobles of the same level. My imagination."
"Cecil always welcomes visitors, especially after old people." Gawain nodded with a smile, accepting the other party's full set of etiquette, and then he looked at Veronica, "This is the second time we meet in this place Yes, Princess Veronica."
"It's completely different from the last time," said the saint princess wearing a priest's robe with a soft smile and a sweet voice. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I couldn't believe that a city could grow to this extent within two years."
"It's all about surviving in this barren land—for survival, human beings are omnipotent," Gawain turned sideways and opened his hands, "Welcome to Cecil—it's ready to welcome you. "
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